Mick Hartley

Roz Adams, the women who was subjected to a "heresy hunt" at the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre for suggesting that a rape victim should know the sex of her counsellor, has finally won her case. From the Telegraph:

A woman who was hounded out of a scandal-hit “trans-inclusive” rape crisis centre run by a biological male is to receive £35,000 in compensation.

Roz Adams, who was a support worker at the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC), is to receive the “substantial” figure for injury to feelings in a “stark recognition of the gravity of harassment” she suffered for her gender critical beliefs, her lawyer said.

An employment tribunal has previously found that Mridul Wadhwa, a male who identifies as female and was chief executive of the centre, had presided over a “heresy hunt” against Ms Adams because of a suspicion she was transphobic.

Ms Adams had been subjected to a “Kafkaesque” disciplinary process after questioning how to respond to female survivors who asked about the sex of another employee who said they were non-binary and adopted a typically male name.

While the sum of £35,000 has been agreed between the parties, Ms Adams is also calling on the tribunal to make a series of recommendations after claiming that support services overseen by Rape Crisis Scotland (RCS) are still failing women.

A remedy hearing heard on Monday that despite Sandy Brindley, the chief executive of RCS, claiming that work was underway on a shared definition of women across its network in October 2023, the wording was yet to emerge.

The continuing presence of Sandy Brindley as head of RCS, despite her long-term support for the disgraced Mridul Wadhwa, is an issue yet to be resolved.

Ms Brindley, who had previously backed Ms Wadhwa as an “amazing sister” and a “warrior for women’s rights”, has resisted widespread calls to resign from her own post.

Ms Adams claimed that deliberately “muddy” language and policies around the issue meant that women seeking help could not make an “informed choice” about accessing services.

“I don’t know how any organisation can claim to have women only spaces or services while not defining what a woman is or what female means,” Ms Adams said.

“A survivor can’t give informed consent if they don’t know what they’re giving informed consent to.

“Rape Crisis Scotland were fully aware they [ERCC] weren’t following women only spaces. Sandy Brindley, the chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, also won’t define women.

“It’s pretty shocking to me, and at the heart of where the issues lie… centring survivors and informed consent. It beggars belief.”…

She said the centre remained “celebratory” of its gender self-ID policy.

She claimed that there had been a “begrudging” acceptance that gender critical beliefs were legally protected but not that they were valid or based on a desire to protect vulnerable women.

She contrasted her treatment with that of Ms Wadhwa, who was allowed to take leave and then step down, potentially with a payoff, despite presiding over a major scandal.